//------------------------------//
// Day 2: Rainbow Dash 
// Story: Magical Mystery Cure (my take) 
// by Phazon_Corrupted_Unicorn 
//------------------------------//

	Rainbow Dash woke up to a beam of sunlight poking through the curtains and shining right on her face. She squinted and growled at the intrusion.
“I am going to sue the Princess,” she muttered as she rolled over. She tried to fall back asleep when she heard somepony knock on the door. She grumbled and pushed off the sheets. “Spike!” she called, glancing around and found that Spike wasn't in bed. She stumbled out of the room and down the stairs just as Spike came out of the kitchen and moved to the door. He looked out the window, then turned to look at Rainbow as he opened the door.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom ran into the room, stopping right up to Rainbow.
“Rainbow!” they both shouted, both fillies frantic and scared.
“What's happening?” all signs of sleepiness gone from Rainbow's face as she watched the two Cutie Mark Crusaders tear up.
“We can't find Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle stated.
Without another word Rainbow shot out of the door, racing toward...toward where? She froze, stopping in the middle of the square. She turned to see Sweetie Belle and Applebloom race out the door, closing it behind them. They hurried up next to her and looked around.
“Sweetie Belle, look at the clubhouse,” Rainbow stated, looking at the white filly. Then she turned and stared at Applebloom, “Applebloom, search the school.”
With their orders, the two fillies ran off in their respective directions. Rainbow turned and slowly looked around her. If she was Scootaloo, where would she go? Now that she thought of it, she didn't even know where Scootaloo slept, much less stayed. She didn't have any family, though Rainbow suspected that Scootaloo didn't know that Rainbow knew that.
Rainbow started to dash off in a random direction, hoping to see her from the air, and she leaped into the air and flapped her wings.
Only to land face down on the ground. She groaned and stood up, shaking the dirt from her body. She glanced back at her wings only to remember that she was a unicorn now. She groaned again, running her hoof over her horn and causing small sparks to jump from the tip.
Then the thought hit her, if she was a unicorn, then she could use magic! She reached deep within her and pulled on her magic, finding it at her forehead. She threw it into her horn, willing it to point her toward Scootaloo.
She grunted in exertion as she poured more and more magic into her horn, trying to find Scoot before anything happened to her. She finally had to stop, as she was sweating from the attempt. She glanced around, then hung her head. She didn't know how to be a unicorn. She wanted to have her wings back, to soar among the sky, to feel the wind rustle her fur and throw a rainbow-colored trail behind her as she pushed herself faster and faster.
She crumpled to the ground, feeling helpless. She couldn't fly, and so she couldn't search as fast as she wanted to, and she couldn't use magic, and so she couldn't find Scoot or even which direction she should go. A tear ran down her cheek as she realized that she wasn't Loyalty, she couldn't be loyal when she couldn't even find where was her number one fan.
She shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes as a fire burned inside her. She couldn't give up. She had to find Scoot, and quickly! Rainbow turned and ran off toward a familiar hill. If Scootaloo wasn't at any of the regular spots, then there was one place Rainbow was sure that she'd be. She went running as fast as her hooves would carry her toward a wrought iron fence set into the ground, fencing off a large flat area with a hill at the far end.
“Scootaloo!” She shouted, hoping that Scoot would hear her and answer as she ran faster, willing her legs to move faster.
“Rainbow!”
Rainbow Dash stopped, or rather she tried to. She'd been running so fast that she couldn't stop as well as she would've if she'd been flying. Consequentially, this led her to trip over a rock and slam muzzle first into the ground. She groaned and sat there for a few seconds, trying to get her bearings back and to stop the pain in her muzzle from growing. Then she sat up and looked around.
There, emerging from the trees close to the cemetery, was a familiar orange filly who ran up to Rainbow and tackled her into the ground.
“What are you doing over here?” Scootaloo asked, slightly nervous as she glanced at the cemetery.
“Looking for you,” Rainbow Dash replied, hugging the small filly in her forelegs.
Scootaloo gave a nervous laugh. “Haha, like I'd be in a cemetery? That's silly, Rainbow Dash!”
“Yeah, silly,” Rainbow Dash laughed half-heartedly. Then she smiled, “hey, now that I’ve found you, let’s go let Sweetie Belle and Applebloom know where you are.”
“Sweetie Belle and Applebloom were looking for me?” asked Scootaloo.
“Yep, and they’re both worried about you,” Rainbow answered, “Sweetie Belle went to search the clubhouse and Applebloom I sent to the schoolhouse.”
As the two ponies trotted down the road, heading for the center of town when Rainbow looked up at the sky and admired the clouds. She smiled as she thought of the thrill of racing through the clouds and feeling the wind kick back her mane.
Her gaze fell on her cloud home, floating above the town and drifting in a lazy circle around it. She wondered how Twilight was handling her wings, and she saw a glimpse of a purple pony emerge from the front door and spread their wings. Rainbow watched as Twilight leapt off the cloud and glide downward, or at least she tried to glide.
Rainbow watched in horror as Twilight’s wings crumpled to one side. She must have used them too much yesterday, Rainbow thought as she raced toward the library. Her brain jumped into high gear, analyzing the trajectory, velocity, gravitational constant (Rainbow didn’t even know she knew the gravitational constant), and atmospheric conditions. It finally completed the calculations in two seconds and relayed the information to Rainbow.
“She’s heading for the library!” she shouted as she demanded her legs to move faster, but after running to find Scootaloo she found that her energy was draining faster than she thought.
She watched Twilight plummet toward the library, every second her strength waned, until she gasped as Twilight slammed into the tree, throwing up leaves and branches and vanishing from sight. Rainbow saw the tree shudder as something hit it and the sound of shattering glass.
She reached the door and yanked it open, gazing inside. The entire tree looked like a mess. Leaves, books, and branches littered the floor everywhere and paper was still swirling around the room in a torrent of white chaos. Spike knelt on the ground amidst the chaos next to Twilight, obscuring Rainbow’s view.
“Twilight!” Spike shouted, placing a clawed hand on the mare’s mane.
Rainbow moved next to him and looked down at her friend. What she saw caused her to wince in pain.
Twilight was laying on her side with one of her wings bent in an unnatural state, feathers out of alignment and mixed with leaves from the tree. Rainbow placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder and Twilight whimpered in pain. She brushed Twilight’s mane away from her face and she gasped as it revealed a long gash on Twilight’s forehead.
“Spike!” Rainbow turned to look at the distraught dragon beside her, “go get the doctors!”
“Um, yes, of course!” Spike stood up on shaky legs and darted toward the door as fast as he could. Rainbow could only sit and stare at her friend lying on the ground as she heard the door open and Spike gasp. Rainbow couldn’t break her eyes away from the helpless mare on the ground to see who it was, but she heard the soft sounds of hooffalls on the carpet. Then she saw an alabaster hoof ending in a golden horseshoe rest on her shoulder as a large shadow fell over Twilight.
Rainbow saw the slightest of movement from the mare and her mouth move.
“Princess.” The sound was more of a breath, almost nonexistent.
“Quick Step, Vanguard!” Princess Celestia called over her shoulder and Rainbow heard the sound of two more ponies move into the room. Rainbow watched as Twilight’s body was enveloped by a golden aura and levitated gently off the floor. Then Rainbow turned and followed her friend’s broken body out of the room and outside.
She noticed a golden chariot sitting outside the library’s door with two guards dressed in identical golden armor standing to attention. Princess Celestia rested Twilight’s body on the soft cushions of the chariot, then turned to look at the guards.
“Fly as fast as you can to Canterlot. Deliver Twilight to my sister, she will know what to do. Then return to me,” Princess Celestia instructed, then added, “fly softly. She is wounded and any unnecessary jostling will not be welcome to her.”
The two guards saluted then hitched themselves back to the chariot and launched into the air. Rainbow watched the golden chariot until it shrank into the tiniest of dots, thinking about her friend riding away from her.
She snapped out of her train of thought at the brush of a feather through her mane. She looked to her side and saw Princess Celestia sitting there, patient. She gasped and started.
“I’m sorry, Princess! I forgot!” Rainbow apologized, then moved to the door and stood aside, waiting.
Princess Celestia smiled at the flustered cerulean mare, then walked through the door and into the room. Rainbow followed her and paused in surprise as she watched the Princess’ horn glow golden, the loose books and papers enveloped by the same glow, then float into the air and reorganize themselves onto shelves and desks, returning the once chaotic room to a state of order and harmony.
Rainbow found herself standing there with her mouth agape as the Princess turned to look at her. “I had no idea that unicorns could do that much levitation!” she breathed in awe, “I’ve only seen Twilight levitate at most a dozen items at once.”
Princess Celestia smiled, “well, Twilight hasn’t realized her full power. Levitating hundreds of items is easily within her capabilities.”
Rainbow’s face fell when she thought of Twilight, but an alabaster hoof raised her chin until her eyes were looking right into the Princess’.
“Twilight will be returned safely to her home later tonight. She will be ready for the trip tomorrow,” Princess Celestia stated softly.
“Trip?” Rainbow asked, “what do you mean ‘trip’?”
Princess Celestia levitated two cushions over and sat down on one, placing the other on the ground next to Rainbow Dash who sat down on it.
“A great change needs to happen soon. All the preparations are complete and tomorrow would be the best time to have it done,” Princess Celestia started.
“What change?” asked Rainbow, her mind whirling with the possibilities.
“It was an unforeseen change,” the Princess replied, “one that occurred back when you five ponies first used the Elements of Harmony against my sister. There was an unanticipated side effect from contact with the Elements, one that will, eventually, cause a great deal of pain and sadness for you five. It is my purpose tomorrow to try and prevent this from happening. However, with one averted, another will arise. The only thing that you need to ask yourself is this: ‘how important is my friendship to me?’” She finished and watched Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow’s face was frozen, but her mind was spinning faster than the Dizzitron on full power. It ran through hundreds of memories, analyzing each and every one of them. The whole process took several minutes, through which Princess Celestia sat, patient, on the cushion in front of her.
“My friendship?” asked Rainbow Dash slowly, “I would go to the ends of the earth if I knew that I could preserve it. I would do all that I can to save it.”
A smile grew on Princess Celestia’s face and she nodded. She stood up and spread her wings.
“I hope that your conviction is as true through your actions as it is through your words. I will provide the opportunity for your conviction to be tested, as well as the conviction of your friends. I will need you to gather the Elements from here and the rest of the girls. Only then will you be able to save your friendship. Twilight will be ready for her change and you girls will need to be there for it,” she stated. Behind her, Rainbow saw the door to the outside open and Pinkie Pie stepped inside, followed by Fluttershy. She pulled her attention back to the Princess as she finished talking.
“-And that is why you need to gather the rest of the girls and come to the castle tomorrow as soon as you can,” Princess Celestia finished. She turned to smile at Pinkie and Fluttershy who closed the door behind them.
“Well, this is a change,” Rainbow Dash watched as Pinkie’s mane fell flat and thick, then the pink pony turned to look at the Princess, sneering, “I get to see you twice in two days. To what do I own the honor?”
“Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash shouted, taken aback by the comment, “show some respect!”
“It’s alright, Rainbow,” Princess Celestia stated, waving a hoof dismissively, “I’m used to being addressed like that with her.”
Pinkamina thrust Fluttershy’s piece of paper into Princess Celestia’s face. “Perhaps you can tell me what’s going on and why Discord gave Fluttershy this riddle?” she glared.
Princess Celestia took the piece of paper in her magic and held it farther away from her face so she could read it. She muttered to herself as she read it, then smiled and frowned quickly.
“It seems Discord has already started the ball rolling sooner than I thought. This is his lesson, in fact,” Princess Celestia smiled at the three ponies in the room.
“So it’s Discord’s fault we’re like this!?” Rainbow Dash shouted at the princess, who nodded. Rainbow growled in frustration. “When I get my hands on him, I’ll personally turn him back into stone!”
“Would you do it if I gave you the opportunity?” Princess Celestia asked and Rainbow Dash gasped.
“You mean you would reverse everything that you’ve done and let us turn him back into stone?” she asked, confusion on her face.
“I could set up an opportunity, but this would require all six of you girls at the castle tomorrow, with the Elements,” Princess Celestia stated and Rainbow yelped with joy and leapt into the air, pumping a fist.
“Finally! We’ll be free of that god of chaos!”
“Oh my,” Fluttershy stated, hiding behind her mane.
Princess Celestia smiled at the three ponies, then moved to the door. “Now if you will excuse me, I’ve got a few more things I need to get done today at Canterlot to prepare for your arrival.” She opened the door with her magic and stepped out, closing it behind her.
“I’m sorry Fluttershy, but sometimes the best thing to do for people is to just let them stay the same,” Rainbow Dash stated and Fluttershy just nodded, sorrow in her eyes.
“Where’s Twilight?” Pinkie asked, returning to her normal, bubbly self.
“She’s staying at my house for now, until I can call the Cloudsdale Cloud Construction Corporation to get a new home for her,” Rainbow replied.
“Oh, so we can’t actually talk to her,” Fluttershy said.
“That’s alright!” Rainbow stated, “I’ll have Derpy deliver a letter to her tomorrow in the morning telling her that we want to see her at the library. I’ll mention that Princess Celestia wants to see all of us at Canterlot. She won’t deny that!” And hopefully she won’t get hurt like today, Rainbow thought. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy nodded. Then Pinkie smiled and leapt into the air. 
“Ooo!! Then tonight we can have a sleepover! It’ll be great! We’ll roast marshmallows and eat sandwiches and tell ghost stories!” the pink mare was almost bursting with energy and excitement at the idea.
“That would be nice,” Fluttershy stated and nodded.
“Great! I’ll get the treats!” and before they could blink, Pinkie was gone, only to reappear in a second with dozens of treats, which she deposited in the kitchen and on the floor, then smiled at Fluttershy, who was smiling at her.
They spent the rest of the day and night telling stories of their childhood and sharing jokes and memories. Eventually Fluttershy decided to get some sleep for the day tomorrow and she gathered up her bedroll and laid it out in one corner.
Pinkie sat back for a second, then smiled at Rainbow Dash.
“It looks like tomorrow is going to be quite exciting,” she said and Rainbow nodded.
“If that’s so, then I guess we’d better get some rest while we can. I know I’ll need to save up my energy for when I get my wings back,” Rainbow stated, trotting upstairs then returning with some blankets and pillows. She handed one to Pinkie, who took it, and they both laid them out on the floor, then crawled in them and fell asleep.